1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a target parking position by using two reference points (or seed points), and a parking assist system using the same. More particularly, the embodiments of the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a target parking position, and a parking assist system using the same, in which a parking space is photographed by a camera mounted on a vehicle, parking slot markings are recognized by using two reference points, which are input by a driver and designate an entrance of a target parking position in the obtained input image, and the target parking position is then detected based on the two reference points and the recognized parking slot markings.
2. Background of Disclosure
A semiautomatic parking system is a system which automates a required steering operation and increases a driver's convenience during parking. Since drivers are very interested in parking assist systems, leading automakers and auto-parts makers have developed parking assist systems in various forms.
When parking a car by using the parking assist system as described above, it is essential for a driver to first select a target parking position where he/she intends to park the car. Therefore, many automakers and auto-parts makers continue to conduct researches on methods for selecting a target parking position in which a driver intends to park his/her own car.
The methods for selecting a target parking position includes a user interface-based method in which a driver directly sets a target parking position on an image around a vehicle, a parking slot marking-based method which automatically recognizes parking slot markings in images around a vehicle and sets a target parking position, a free space between parked vehicles-based method which sets a target parking position to an empty parking space between two parked vehicles, an infrastructure-based method which recognizes an empty parking space by using a Global Positioning System (GPS), a digital map, etc., and others, all of which have been developed and are used.
The parking slot marking-based method as described above includes a method for setting a target parking position by using one touch based on parking slot markings. In this method, when selecting a point (i.e. when once touching a position in which a driver intends to park his/her own vehicle) on an image obtained by a camera of a vehicle, a device for setting a target parking position automatically sets the target parking position by using the selected point.
However, the conventional method for setting a target parking position by using one touch based on parking slot markings should perform processes, such as fish-eye lens correction, the generation of a bird's-eye view image, etc., on all images obtained by the camera. Accordingly, the amount of calculations performed by the device for setting the target parking position increases by a large amount, so that the capabilities of a memory and a microprocessor, which are necessary to perform the calculations, increase by a large amount.
Also, it is assumed in the conventional methods as described above that a straight line separates a parking slot from a road. Accordingly, it is difficult to apply the conventional methods to parking slot markings in another form which does not include a straight line separating a parking slot from a road.